Sling TV to offer local channels through new streaming device

Dish Network’s Sling TV has been offering skinny bundles of pay TV channels, but mostly without ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS, the traditional over the air broadcast networks. The service has been offering Local ABC, Fox and NBC feeds in select markets, but as far as other network affiliates, Sling has not been able to offer those.

A lot of that has to do with carriage agreements, but Sling may have found a way around that. Through its corporate cousin, Echostar, the two will offer a device called “AirTV” that will allow Sling TV customers to watch local channels.

According to the site ZatzNotFunny, AirTV will repurpose Slingbox technology and allow users to stream the over the air channels into Sling TV. In fact, there was a draft listing on Amazon that listed the device at $149.99.

The site said Dish/Echostar was hoping to launch the product in the spring of this year, but now appears to be ready to start selling it this fall. Of course, one of the attractions to get sports that aren’t offered through cable as the Amazon draft listing says.

“With AirTV and an HD antenna, you can stream live local programming, news and your local sports anywhere in your home using the free Sling TV app and its integrated program guide. No paid contracts-just free local TV on any compatible device. And if you want more channels, you can subscribe to paid Sling TV packages-all from the same app.”

With other services like Sony PlayStation Vue offering local affiliates, Sling knows it has to compete and by bringing AirTV to the forefront, perhaps it can attract some new subscribers into the fold.

[Multichannel News/ZatzNotFunny]